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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827185">Bruises</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Gore, Don't Try This At Home, Guro, Knifeplay, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:02:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,782</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Oh, baby that was quite a punch<br/>Could somebody check my pulse?<br/>It's been a minute since I tasted blood<br/>I forgot how good this was</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benrey/Gordon Freeman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bruises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The knife snapped open. Looted from one of the many members of the US military they had killed, the knife was not a subtle thing. All three inches of the blade were serrated and shined, polished within an inch of its life. It caught the New Mexico sunlight and sent it back in a dazzling array. Neither of the men had the presence of mind to appreciate the rainbow it cast over the otherwise stark landscape.</p>
<p>Benry was caught wide-eyed in the middle of another joke, mouth hanging open lamely. His recovery time was commendable.</p>
<p>“Yo, where did you even get that?”</p>
<p>Gordon’s voice was rough in a way that was new to the both of them.</p>
<p>“Dr. Coomer had the right idea. I took it off one of the boot boys we killed.”</p>
<p>Even when he had screamed himself hoarse or was losing his cool over something one of his companions had done, it never held an edge of malicious intent the way it did now. Something uncomfortable slithered in Benry’s gut.</p>
<p>“Alright- and uh-,” Benry’s voice didn’t tremble. It wasn’t capable of much beyond his monotone. His stuttering was as close to a crack in his façade as he could get and with the way Gordon was smirking, they both knew that. He licked his lips before he continued.</p>
<p>“It looks a bit shit. Steak knife. All those triangles for cutting moo meat.”</p>
<p>The silence stretched between them long enough for Benry’s eyes to wander from their ogling of the new weapon. It was inarguably less dangerous than the literal armory they were carrying around with them but held a different air. Gordon held the knife like it was an extension of himself. He looked good holding it. Gordon looked good especially now, sweating under the exertion of murder and the unrelenting heat. He crooked a smile and Benry realized he was staring.</p>
<p>“You look kinda spooked for a steak knife, dude. You okay?”</p>
<p>Benry forced his limbs to comply as he closed the distance between them. Whatever idiotic thing the Science Team were doing narrowed out of existence as it became only the two of them. The tip of the knife bit into the kevlar of his vest. A dull pressure. Benry looked up at Gordon, tilting his head.</p>
<p>“What are you gonna do, stab me?”</p>
<p>Gordon barked out a laugh. Benry had to suppress his own grin at the joke, even as the knife started to retreat.</p>
<p>“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”</p>
<p>A moment. Then Benry shrugged, trying to play it off.</p>
<p>“Yeah. A lil.”</p>
<p>The humor died from Gordon quickly as confusion took its place. Not disgust, Benry noted with relief, but confusion.</p>
<p>“What the fuck, dude? I’m not going to stab you.”</p>
<p>Benry didn’t have anything else to say. He wasn’t prideful but begging would only put Gordon off further. His eyes cast to the side and he made a move to step away before Gordon spoke. The noise was aborted before he tried it again.</p>
<p>“Wait- Benry. Are you for real? Is- Is this a sex thing or are you just fucking with me?”</p>
<p>He looked back up to Gordon, eyes lidded with forced disinterest.</p>
<p>“Hu-,” Benry’s act is cut short as the knife spun in Gordon’s hand. The tip pressed insistently upon the soft underside of his chin. He could impale himself on it, if he wanted to. The mere thought of it sent a shudder up his spine and suddenly standing was more difficult.</p>
<p>“You know what the fuck I’m talking about. Don’t play with me.”</p>
<p>“If it’s a sex thing,” Benry choked out, “you gonna <em>fuck</em> me?”</p>
<p>Rarely had there been a single moment of silence since the Resonance Cascade. Right now, Benry could hear a pin drop. Their harsh breathing mingled into an ignorable background noise. His body was like a livewire, finely tuned to the slightest movements from Gordon. After an excruciating moment the knife drops. As does Benry’s stomach. Disappointment is an iron ball in his gut.</p>
<p>“No, man, I’m not going to fuck you. I can’t even get out of this suit; you think I could fuck you?”</p>
<p>The silence nearly reappears before Gordon’s awkwardness overcomes him and he asks, intrigued but hesitant.</p>
<p>“Do you really want me to stab you?”</p>
<p>Unbidden and without much thought on his part, Benry hissed a soft <em>yesss</em>.</p>
<p>Gordon nods once, apparently to himself.</p>
<p>“Okay, I’ll do it. So how do I… What’s the…”</p>
<p>His floundering is endearing in the hazy space in which Benry’s brain had immediately retreated. He takes Gordon’s free hand and pulls him over to a more secluded spot. Nestled between burning rubble and red, dusty rock. Almost romantic. Benry unbuckled the kevlar vest and tossed it to the side. He wouldn’t be needing that. He pulled Gordon into a kneeling position in front of him, his own ass planted firmly on the ground. The hill behind him didn’t make for a comfortable backrest, but soon that wouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>Gordon’s jitters once again reared its head and he spoke, flicking the knife open and closed.</p>
<p>“You didn’t say anything. Do I just… Stab you?”</p>
<p>Benry gives him a flat look.</p>
<p>“Fail little gamer man can’t even use a knife? Spreading your pb&amp;js with a fuckin’- uh, <em>spoon</em>?”</p>
<p>His lips peel back into a snarl.</p>
<p>“C’mon, just do it.”</p>
<p>Quicker than his eye could follow the knife slams down into his left collar bone. The serrated edge catches against bone and he could feel as it bit chunks out as it made its way down. Black spots danced in his vision. The nerves in his shoulder and arm screamed their dismay as so many muscles were torn. He could feel the knife shift with each pulse of his heart.</p>
<p>Benry’s eyes moved lazily over to Gordon. Self-satisfaction pulled at his lips and put a meandering quality to all of his movements. Gordon, however, was not having nearly such a great time. Aghast horror was written on the physicist’s face Benry bled all over himself. His hands fluttered with indecision and apologies started and stopped within the same breath. It was kind of killing the mood. Benry rolled his eyes and grabbed Gordon by the collar of the HEV suit with his still functioning arm. That shut him up.</p>
<p>“Sssshut the fuck up. You wanted to gut me, yeah? Do it, idiot.”</p>
<p>Didn’t he realize how good this felt? Clearly not as Gordon once again hesitated with those large, doe eyes of his. Benry pulled Gordon in for a kiss, making sure to bite his own lip open beforehand. A kiss was something that Gordon seemed to understand, thankfully, and melted into it.</p>
<p>Benry left no room for the soft, chaste press of lips that Gordon had seemed to want to start with. His tongue slipped out and Gordon obediently opened his own mouth to accommodate. Within moments Benry’s hand had already slipped from the collar of the HEV suit to tangle in Gordon’s hair, as if trying to force him closer. Benry’s blood slipped between them until their saliva was dyed pink.</p>
<p>Gordon’s hand, the one that wasn’t stabilizing him against the rockface and pinning Benry in on one side, sloppily patted its way up Benry’s side. It found the knife and after an almost apologetic pause. He yanked out it out in what might have been a smooth motion if so much gore hadn’t come with it. A spray of blood followed through with the knife, painting them both with warmth. Benry couldn’t help the whine that bubbled up in his throat. Nor the cant of his hips as he desperately looked for any kind of friction Gordon would provide. His left side was now purple with his own blood as each beat of his heart forced the wound to spill over.</p>
<p>He could feel Gordon moving again but the low haze that had settled over his senses was taking precedent over higher thinking. Arousal and shock. There were few better combinations for taking one out of their own head. He could only react to things as they happened to him now. Gasp as Gordon pulled away from the kiss, equally as out of breath. Gordon was beautiful. Pupils blown wide, afraid and maybe just as into it as he was. Benry’s blood was splattered all over his face and tangled within his hair. Evidence of their kiss dripped down Benry’s chin just as much as it did Gordon’s. He could only stare, opened mouthed and wondering. Words failed him.</p>
<p><em>What now</em>, he wanted to challenge. It was answered with the bite of the knife low against his stomach. His cock twitched with the proximity. Gordon pushed the knife an inch into his stomach. Then further. It slipped seamlessly past the wall of muscle and fat until Benry swore it punctured something. He stared down at it as Gordon pulled the knife upwards, following along the line of his button-up. The ground under them was awash with bile and blood and other fluids that neither had the presence of mind to categorize.</p>
<p>New Mexico dust turned to mud under Gordon’s kneeling legs as he steadily vivisected the security guard. His gloves were tacky with new and old blood. He almost dropped it in surprise as Benry’s organs spilled out. Intestines uncoiled and leaked bile from where it had been punctured from his steady ministrations. His last cut must have severed something. Benry’s stomach, purpleish-pink, hung suspended still next to other unidentifiable organs. Gordon looked up to asses Benry and was surprised to find the security guard still with him. Despite having his internal organs out on display, that same dopey grin and half-lidded stare remained. His mouth hung slightly open as breathing seemed to become an issue for him. Gordon felt a twinge of pity.</p>
<p>Pity that was crushed when he remembered that Benry was still sporting a rather impressive erection. Flayed open from hips to sternum. How he maintained it while dying of blood loss was beyond him. Gordon wiped the knife off on whatever unbloodied parts of Benry’s outfit he could find before returning it to the stolen holster. His knees creaked as he stood. Right.</p>
<p>Gordon took a step back, breathing deeply of air that didn’t have a wretched metal tang. His foot slid back before he applied all the force he could into it. <em>Like punting a ball</em>, he told himself. Benry’s head crunched against the stone of the Black Mesa facility and Gordon turned away. If that hadn’t killed the man, he didn’t want to know.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later, when Benry respawned, he would curse into the empty air. That fucking hurt!</p>
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